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Could UConn be final game for sophomore Gary Harris at Michigan State? 'You never know ... '

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Michigan State team MVP Gary Harris dunks home two of his six points in Friday night's 61-59 victory over East Region No. 1 seed Virginia in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament at Madison Square Garden.
(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

NEW YORK — Unlike many projected first-round NBA picks at this stage of the NCAA tournament, when Gary Harris says he isn't even thinking about whether he'll return for another season of college basketball, it comes across as believable.

Could No. 4 seed Michigan State's Elite Eight game against No. 7 seed Connecticut at 2:20 p.m. on Sunday in Madison Square Garden (TV: CBS) be the last time Harris wears the green and white of Michigan State?

"There's no decision made,'' Harris said in an interview session at the self-proclaimed "World's Most Famous Arena'' on Saturday afternoon.

"It's just any game could be my last game, whether it's the last game of season, or it's an injury, you never know,'' Harris said. "So you have to go out there and play every game like it's your last, no matter what, because nothing is ever promised.''

The only promise Harris is interested in keeping is the vow the Spartans have made to one another, and that is not to be the team that snaps Tom Izzo's streak of taking every fourth-year player he has coached the past 19 years to the Final Four.

Harris, who in Friday's victory over Virginia became only the fourth Spartan in history to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons in the program, certainly isn't playing like someone forcing shots in an effort to impress NBA scouts.

ESPN's Chad Ford projects Harris as potentially the No. 2 shooting guard in the upcoming draft class and predicts he would be the No. 10 player taken overall.

But all that seems to be on Harris' mind is the Elite Eight matchup with the dangerous Huskies (28-8), who advanced to play the Spartans (29-8) with an 81-76 victory over No. 3 seed Iowa State on Friday night.

"At this time of the season, we're playing for our seniors,'' Harris said. "They don't get another shot. I get another shot, BJ (Branden Dawson) gets another shot, Denzel (Valentine), everybody except Keith (Appling) AP (Adreian Payne) and Dan (Chapman).

"We don't want to be the team that, even though I'm not a senior, we don't want to be the team remembered that didn't make it, that broke the streak.''

So will be Harris be taking the floor with any consideration for the potential NBA ramifications of his performance?

"Nah,'' Harris said with his trademark cat-that-swallowed-the-canary smile. "It's kind of trying to play for someone else and let the rest take care of itself.''

Playing for someone else in Harris' mind involves him doing whatever it takes to win, which with his versatility involves far more than scoring the basketball.

"I'm approaching it to do whatever I can do to help the team win, whether it's not taking any shots in the second half and getting other teammates the ball, or maybe it's coming down and I'm hitting shots and scoring a lot of points. But whatever I have to do to help our team win, I'm willing to do,'' Harris said. "Honestly, me and Keith haven't been taking as many shots, and we've been giving those shots to BJ and AP, and good things have happened.

"It's all about having that selflessness that Coach (Izzo) talked to us about at the beginning of the Big Ten tournament. We all throw our egos out of the way.''

But as Payne pointed out, people should not be misled into thinking Harris isn't a very important part of the success the Spartans have enjoyed in the NCAA tournament through their first three games.

"Teams have been trying to take him away and make other people take shots, and he's been doing what he has to do — Gary has been unselfish,'' Payne said. "Even though he's not as productive offensively, he's still impacting the game defensively and in other situations.

"Even if he's not taking his shot, they are doubling him, so they are still cognitive of Gary shooting that three or getting to the rim,'' he said. "So he's always helping even if it's not on the sheet of paper where you can see. He's always contributing to the game in some type of way.''

Harris ranks third on the team in scoring in the NCAA tournament, averaging 11.3 points per game on 11-of-25 (44 percent) shooting from the floor. He's second on the team in steals and third on the team in assists.

The sophomore from Fishers, Ind., joked he's come a long way since the first play in his first collegiate game, against UConn in Germany last season.

"I remember the first play of the game, we won the tip, and I don't know what happened, I just spaced out,'' Harris said with a chuckle. "I'm just sitting there on the wing, and the offense is stagnant because I'm not doing my part in the play. I remember I messed up the whole first play, I blanked out the first 10 seconds of the game.

"There were some nerves in that game.''

Harris hasn't displayed any nerves in Madison Square Garden this weekend, assuming the role of savvy veteran on the floor and dealing with the media.

"I have become a lot more comfortable,'' Harris said, "and a lot more experienced since that game.''

Harris handles things like a pro, whether that part of his career is a month off or quite possibly another year away.